Improving Fertility and Increasing Your Conception Chances

  • Couples are encouraged to seek fertility assistance after a year of unprotected sex.
  • When the woman is older than 35, expert advice is encouraged after six months of unprotected intercourse.
  • One in six couples will battle to conceive.

Woman:

  • Woman are born with around two million eggs.  By the time woman start to menstruate, only about 300,000 eggs remain.  Egg count diminishes with every cycle, not just one.
  • Woman may have menstrual cycles, but may not be ovulating.
  • Woman over the age of 40 are strongly encouraged to consider egg donation to get pregnant with young healthy eggs, increasing their chances of conception and also increasing the chances for a healthy baby.
  • Woman who no longer have periods should seek professional assistance. It may mean that they have entered premature menopause or are in ovarian failure. This may be due to genetic reasons, unknown or other reasons.
  • About 1% of woman will enter premature menopause - meaning before the average age of menopause of around 50. However even if woman are still ovulating before this age, egg quality is likely to be of poor quality, requiring donor eggs.

Men:

  • Men should produce at least a teaspoon full of sperm with every ejaculation. Less than this could be an indication of a low sperm count.
  • Avoid tight clothing.
  • Sperm used to fertilise eggs are at an optimal quality if ejaculation was three days prior.

Both should stop smoking.

Healthy Eating:

  • Avoid raw chicken, eggs and fish.
  • Increase fresh fruits and vegetables as well as water.
  • Try to eat free range and organic food products where possible, to reduce artificial hormones.
  • Woman - increase follic acid intake.
  • Men - increase selenium intake.